Animating Cultural Essence: Translating Pashto Literature into Digital Storytelling

Abstract

Literature of a specific region is source of diffusing the knowledge of varied culture, rituals, history, tradition, stories and much information reflecting the timeline of different cultures and communities (Klarl 2010). The research follows a practice-led approach, combining creative output, content analysis, and exploration of past research. It explores how literature from a specific language can be adapted into a digital medium, making it accessible to a broader audience without compromising its essence. Primary and Secondary sources are used and after careful deliberation the literary work Ghani Khan's "Reidi Gul," was selected for its modernist essence and relevance (ALi 2014).

The project explores the context of the poem and translates it into an interactive visual story. The resulting animated film encapsulates the essence of the poem, utilizing story, animation, production management, cultural music, sound design, and Pashto voice-over to engage the audience. Moreover, it aims to preserve Pashto literature and folk traditions using digital mediums.

The modern digital era has transformed communication mediums entirely, impacting the dissemination of cultural knowledge, history, and traditions embedded in regional literature (Edwards 2015). This practice led research project aims to find how cultural literature of a specific language can be presented in a digital medium of animation, making it understandable to an audience on a broader scale, without affecting its essence and originality.